Blog

Science is beginning to provide evidence of the benefits of controlled deep breathing – something the yogis have known and used for centuries. You don’t have to look far to find all kinds of studies into the efficacy of using […]

As I am about to embark upon another new teaching year, I am, of course, attending to all the business details of running an independent music studio. But mostly I am thinking about how to better communicate the truly “musical” […]

The new saying going around is that sitting is the new smoking and according to Dr. James Levine, director of the Mayo Clinic-Arizona State University Obesity Solutions Initiative and inventor of the treadmill desk, we lose 2 hours of life […]

Twelve years ago my first “wellness” article, Using Your Body’s Wisdom to Unlock Technique was published in the American Music Teacher (June/July 2003). At that time a friend mentioned that it read like a first installment…and indeed it was simply […]

It is easy to forget about the interconnectedness of the whole body. Often an issue in one part of our body is caused by something seemingly unrelated. This was driven home to me once again in a very personal way […]

Not long ago I had occasion to work with an incredibly intuitive non-musician at his keyboard of choice – a computer. A veteran at a high-tech computer company, he was experiencing near-constant forearm pain – so much so that he […]

A while back I had the opportunity to participate in an Active Isolated Stretching (AIS) workshop focused on neck and shoulders. This stretching routine was developed by kinesiologist Aaron Mattes and is used by massage therapists, physical therapists and trainers […]

As I mentioned in my last post, I am continually intrigued by the physical connections I discover whether teaching a yoga class or working with musicians of all levels. The concept of moving and building from a foundation of ease […]

I spent my early years practicing piano under the watchful eye of my great-grandfather in an oil painting hanging on the wall right behind my piano. In the painting, my great-grandfather, a Flemish organist and composer, is holding a scroll […]